The Small Stuff

Today could have been a stressful morning. Three back-to-back sessions to be followed by a mad rush to pick daughter up from daycare. And because I planned this, it meant that I would have to leave each session 5 min early so that I would not be running behind. Sometimes I feel like "time crunch" is the best way to describe my life.

Thankfully, or unthankfully (however you want to call it), my second session did not pan out. Embarrassingly, my car insurance was expired, which meant that I would be turned around by the guard at the army post where my session was to transpire. Somehow, the guard last week overlooked the expiration date. Today, as fate would have it, I got the detail-oriented, anal retentive guard. But I think fate was on my side because it directed me straight to my favorite coffee shop where I was greeted with open arms, even 15 minutes before opening. And when I thought my triple latte with extra foam couldn't possibly get any better, the music gods decided to party with the coffee gods to enchant me with some of my favorite tunes. And then the food gods jumped in and wet my palette with the best quiche (or as I described to my daughter later, "egg pizza") I had ever tasted. All this amazingness packed into 20 minutes of pure bliss. And then I was off to my 3rd session, ready to take it on like it was Mount Everest.

This got me thinking... if it only took 20 minutes to lift my spirits today, couldn't I make this happen everyday? I mean, its not like 20 minutes is that difficult to set aside each day. I know that part of the enjoyment is when things happen spontaneously, but sometimes it might take going off the beaten path for an opportune moment to see what little nugget of wonderfulness that life has in store. I didn't mean to go off the beaten path today- the anal guard sent me there- but thank God he did!

I'm not sure how this looks practically, but I think it means occasionally turning off the TV and going outside, or pulling out the paintbrush and seeing what happens on a blank canvas, or throwing a bunch of food together to see what interesting creation comes of it, or creating a new Pandora station of artists I love but wouldn't necessarily put together, or even calling a friend who I've been wondering about for the past few months. I think there's endless ways of making this a daily reality... its just making sure I'm open to it.